Gnash Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 So Evans wins - not surprising at all, but the margin of victory was. The Schlecks actually did pretty good time trials but Evans was phenomenal. Good at see Voeckler stay ahead of Contador as well. Yeah so did Mario Cipollini, who pulled out of the race as soon as it went uphill, at least Cav tries. He has his strengths and uses them well. You do know he has won Milan-San Remo, one of the biggest single-day classics, right? Any exposure cycling gets in Britain is good IMO, but like it or not, Cav is the flag-bearer for British cycling. Winning the Green Jersey would be huge for the sport in Britain. I agree with that. Cavendish is obviously not built to be a GC contender, but he's by far the best road sprinter at the moment. In that respect he's far more impressive than Evans or the Schlecks. Sometimes he comes across as a bit of a dick, sometimes as a good guy. Same as Evans and the Schlecks. I thought he was pretty cautious and defensive the entire 3 weeks, I'd go as far as to say boring, There's two reasons for that - he doesn't have the acceleration to attack like Andy or Contador, and his time trial is much better so as long as he can stay with them in the mountains, he'll win. Which is exactly what happened. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the way Evans rode the Tour this year. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musketeer Gripweed Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 The Schleck's. What are they good at? Looking over their shoulder. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McQueen Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Evans worked hard for that, thought he was on the slide after a couple of 2nd places a couple of years ago. Rode an akmost faultless Tour. Does anyone really think Wiggins would have had a chance to win it like the media think? Could have stayed with Evans in the mountains?, Better TT? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chico Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Evans worked hard for that, thought he was on the slide after a couple of 2nd places a couple of years ago. Rode an akmost faultless Tour. Does anyone really think Wiggins would have had a chance to win it like the media think? Could have stayed with Evans in the mountains?, Better TT? A real what if. I guess this year was a real chance, I'm assuming the olympics will overshadow the tour next season. I think wiggins won the dauphine libere this year and he can ride the climbs pretty well and is one of the better time trialers. I think team sky were pretty strong in this years tour and that Wiggins would have had some help over the mountains. Be worth watching the next few months and seeing what team sky announce for 2012. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ1210 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Does anyone really think Wiggins would have had a chance to win it like the media think? Could have stayed with Evans in the mountains?, Better TT? Not for me, never going to be a contender. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musketeer Gripweed Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 A real what if. I guess this year was a real chance, I'm assuming the olympics will overshadow the tour next season. I think wiggins won the dauphine libere this year and he can ride the climbs pretty well and is one of the better time trialers. I think team sky were pretty strong in this years tour and that Wiggins would have had some help over the mountains. Be worth watching the next few months and seeing what team sky announce for 2012. He'll defend his gold medal on the track in London, leaving the way open for Bernie, Renshaw and Cav to lead SKY next year. SKY are assembling a great squad, and they have had a fantastic Tour this year, despite what some eejit said the other night on here. Pretty obvious the guy that said that knows nothing about pro cycling. Omega, Garmin and Europcar have also had great Tours. The big losers this year have been Astana, Katusha and Radioshack. I'd be very surprised if all three of those teams are back next year in their current guise. I can also see Saxobank getting a couple of stronger riders in to help Bertie a bit more than the current squad. They didn't protect him enough this year, especially when he was feeling his knee the most. Get your money on Bertie for the Vuelta in September and next year's Tour as soon as you can. But wait until the verdict comes in first of course. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ1210 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 The big losers this year have been Astana, Katusha and Radioshack. I'd be very surprised if all three of those teams are back next year in their current guise. I think some are being overly critical of RadioShack this year, they lost strong riders such as Jani Brajkovic, Chris Horner, Andreas Klöden and Yaroslav Popovych due to injuries so obviously this is going to impact on their performance. Klöden was sitting in 8th position, 6 secs behind Andy Schleck, before his crash and Horner was in 13th position when he crashed. I believe RadioShack are to extend their sponsorship next year, and Matty Busche will be a rider to look out for next year. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlandcowden Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Great stuff by Evans he's got it right up Frandy. Brilliant win by Tony Martin. Immense performance by him. The Schleck's. What are they good at? They're above average in mountains, pretty good time trialists but they're not the class of a TDF winner. Great for Evans, if he meant to win it on the TT then, it's be some strategy, he didn't kill himself over the HC hills but controlled it enough, in retrospect he might have played the schelcks an utter blinder and stitched them up like kippers. andy schleck has shown hes not got the class off the bike either,hes been swaggering about this tour like hes a champion before hes won anything and his disrespectful comments with regards to other riders certainly explain why i,for one,am delighted cadel has beaten him 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 andy schleck has shown hes not got the class off the bike either,hes been swaggering about this tour like hes a champion before hes won anything and his disrespectful comments with regards to other riders certainly explain why i,for one,am delighted cadel has beaten him Whilst Evans is exactly the opposite, treating questioning with contempt, I'd tend to agree on Schleck. There's something about the two brothers that doesn't ring true. Lesser of two evils winning, but thoroughly deserved. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 .There's two reasons for that - he doesn't have the acceleration to attack like Andy or Contador, and his time trial is much better so as long as he can stay with them in the mountains, he'll win. Which is exactly what happened. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the way Evans rode the Tour this year. I'm not saying there was anything rong with the way he rode, my point is he may just be the least attacking TdF winner in history, but the strategy he quite clearly mapped out beforehand worked an absolute treat. I bet he's been drilling the TT in practice with the TdF in mind. He has stitched the Schlecks right up, no way did thye ever imagine he'd destroy them like that in the TT. He rode the way he knew he'd win, why would he expend extra energy launching attacks with the strategy he had? There is a big problem at Leopard Trek. One of the brothers is going to have to go and fend for himself. This whole "well we'll se who's in a better position before deciding who we work for" tactic is NOT working. They both need to be leading a team. I'd suggest Frank should jump ship to an Astana or Radio Shack or something. He'd easily make team leader and have a genuine chance of winning instead of fannying about with Andy whispering sweet nothings in each others ear up each climb. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_A_R Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 bmc soignuer caught with 195 doses of epo a couple of weeks ago both OPL and BMC have noticably stepped it up this season. i have a sneaky feeling cadel will climb better than we have ever seen before over the next few weeks. I think your going to be proved right. I'm sure big George's 'experience' of being in the postals will help as well. fair play to cadel but... anyone with a clue saw it coming 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Mac Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swarley Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Jeez, 2nd and 3rd are pretty tasty. I'll have to start watching this cycling nonsense more often. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chico Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Jeez, 2nd and 3rd are pretty tasty. I'll have to start watching this cycling nonsense more often. They've made the girls outfits classier in recent years. I remember when it was eurotart outfits showing great cleavage and legs. Ah those were the days. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myshkin Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 Great race this year. Man of the match without question was Tommy Voeckler. Fantastic stuff from him. He should get a special jersey made for him. Chapeau to Cav, Thor Hushovd, Tony Martin, Cadel (slightly gritted teeth) and of course Jean Christophe Peraud (wish he had gone to the road cycling game a few years earlier). Honourable mentions for Contador (would have won by miles if he hadn't ridded Giro), Hubert Dupont (only other Giro rider to emerge with credit) and Pierrre Rolland (1st French winner since the Professor), Johhny Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha. Big rasperries to the clueless brothers, Basso, Cunego (sort your TT out fella), Gadret (shouldn't have bothered his arse), Roche (never a team leader) and Pettachi. All in all a very fun three weeks. Cav to win today to round things off nicely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myshkin Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 Special mention for Sean Kelly....... 'Sometimes you get, as they say in France, cowshit on the roads'. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnash Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Great race this year. Yes, it's been fantastic entertainment. Well done to the organisers, although it would be great if there's some way they could reduce the number of crashes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chico Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 About cadel Evans square face @itvcycling on twitter:-Did you know... A horse kicked Evans in the head when he was 8, fracturing his skull. He was in a coma for … (cont) deck.ly/~fdnqX 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 A bit of a foregone conclusin but Cav takes it from Boasson Hagen I think in 2nd 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chico Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Watching it back on sky plus. What acceleration from Cav! Brilliant stage win! 3rd year in a row. Green jersey win is fantastic. He's a legend now. I wonder how the BBC will conspire to ensure he doesn't win the SPOTY 2011. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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